In the first garden, Adam fell. In the second garden, Noah also fell. God saved Noah’s household because of his righteousness. In God’s plan, Noah was the head of his household. God placed Noah’s family under his authority. God also set Noah to be the head of the earth at that time.
But one day Noah drank of the wine of the vineyard and became drunk. He became naked in the tent. When his son Ham saw his father’s nakedness, he went out and told his two brothers. As far as his conduct was concerned, Noah was wrong; he should not have been drunk. But Ham did not see the seriousness of authority. The father is the authority set up by God in the family. However, the flesh loves to see authority exposed to shame so that there can be freedom from restriction. When Ham saw the impropriety of his father, there was no sense of shame or sorrow. He also did not think of covering the matter. This proves that he had a spirit of rebellion. He went out to tell his brothers and expose the shame of his father. This proves that he also had a reviling conduct. But notice how Shem and Japheth dealt with the matter. They went into the tent backward. They did not turn their faces toward their father’s shame; instead, they covered their father with the garment on their shoulders. The failure of Noah became a test to Shem, Ham, Japheth, and Canaan the son of Ham. It showed who was submissive and who was rebellious. Noah’s failure exposed Ham’s rebellion.
When Noah woke up from his drunkenness, he prophesied that the descendant of Ham would be cursed and that he would be a servant of servants to his brothers. The first slave in the Bible is Ham. The phrase “Canaan shall be his servant” is used twice. This means that those who do not submit to authority will have to be slaves, being subject to authority. Shem was blessed. The Lord Jesus was born of the descendants of Shem. Those of Japheth are the preachers of Christ. All the nations that preach the gospel are descendants of Japheth. After the flood, the first person who was cursed was Ham. His descendants were made to be slaves under others’ authority for generation after generation. Everyone who learns to serve the Lord must come face-to-face with authority. He cannot serve God in a spirit of lawlessness.
How solemn is the story of Nadab and Abihu! They became priests because they belonged to the house of Aaron. This was due to the proper condition of their house before God; it was not due to the proper condition of the individuals in that house. God appointed Aaron to be the priest. The anointing was upon the head of Aaron (Lev. 8:12). In all things related to offerings and service, the chief person was Aaron. His sons were just helpers taking orders from him to attend to the affairs beside the altar. God had no intention for Aaron’s sons to be priests independently. He only wanted them to be under Aaron’s authority. Leviticus 8 refers to Aaron and his sons twelve times. Then chapter nine indicates that Aaron offered the sacrifices while his sons helped alongside of him. If Aaron did not move, his sons should not have moved. Everything should have been under Aaron’s name. Nothing should have been under his sons’ names. When his sons assumed the headship presumptuously to offer sacrifices, it became strange fire. But the sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, thought that they also could offer sacrifices. Without Aaron’s command, they offered up strange fire. The meaning of strange fire is to serve God while refusing to take orders and disregarding authority. They observed that it was a simple matter for their father to offer sacrifices. Nothing extraordinary seemed to be involved; therefore, they thought that they could do the same. Hence, they took the matter into their own hands. Their only consideration was whether or not the matter could be done. They did not consider the matter of God’s authority.
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